# Should Gargoyles come in pairs? (In West Virginia if that matters) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 30, 2024, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520 "2024-06-30T02:14:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/1 "2024-06-30T02:14:41Z")
We recently bought a new home. It has brick gate posts? that are about four feet tall and 18x18 inches on the top. The neighbors to the left of me have carriage lamps on their brick gate posts and the neighbors to the right have lions. Of course we want to “keep up with the Jones’s” so we need something on our gate posts as well. We have agreed on gargoyles, but cannot agree if we need two of the same or if we can two different but same sized ones. Anyone got any facts or opinions? Suggestions as to where to find 18 inch tall, weather proof\* gargoyles would be helpful as well 🙂 \*the sun isn’t nearly as intense as AZ sun, but it rains a whole lot here. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/2 "2024-06-30T02:28:18Z")
A matched pair would look better in my opinion. I’d be tempted to do something odd like clown heads or something. I guess it matters what kinda neighborhood it is and if you have an HOA or not. Ooh…Horse heads, ála _The Godfather_. Just think of the fake blood you can add at Halloween. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/3 "2024-06-30T02:32:39Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I’d be tempted to do something odd like clown heads or something. Me too, but I think I’d lean toward [cat gargoyles.](https://gargoylestatuary.com/product/cat-gargoyle/) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/4 "2024-06-30T02:34:26Z")
Nice! Love that. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/5 "2024-06-30T02:39:23Z")
As to where to get them a cement fabrication place, might be pricey tho’. I’m sure the yard ornament places, like where you buy bird baths and yard figures would have them or send you to a place. If you’re not married to fact you have to see them first, I bet there’s countless online sites. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/6 "2024-06-30T02:50:35Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#): > > Suggestions as to where to find 18 inch tall, weather proof\* gargoyles would be helpful as well Design Toscano sells (and, I believe, ships) a wide range of garden statues, including a whole lot of gargoyles. [https://www.designtoscano.com/search?utf8=✓&q=gargoyle&button=search&authenticity\_token=NwfEZKEfG8mrgPo%2Fcmw4PM71N76KNTaCBUwx6NbC17El7Iw2skvq7W1mfxXGLKm%2F0ECx19RttvwKWQfyV9Tiuw%3D%3D](https://www.designtoscano.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=gargoyle&button=search&authenticity_token=NwfEZKEfG8mrgPo%2Fcmw4PM71N76KNTaCBUwx6NbC17El7Iw2skvq7W1mfxXGLKm%2F0ECx19RttvwKWQfyV9Tiuw%3D%3D) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/7 "2024-06-30T02:56:51Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#): > > we need something on our gate posts as well. We have agreed on gargoyles, Nitpick - a [gargoyle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gargoyle) sits on a roof and has a spout that drains rainwater. What you want is a [grotesque](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grotesque_(architecture)). ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/8 "2024-06-30T03:35:21Z")
Well, given your _title_, I’d say a statue of Pan and Bacchus, but that may cause offense! Janus (god of gates) being slightly more neutral, could also work. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/9 "2024-06-30T03:39:06Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#): > > Anyone got any facts or opinions? Silly girl, _of course_ we have opinions! First, yes, do keep up with the neighbors but have fun doing it. And I agree, a matched set. [HomeDepot.com](http://HomeDepot.com) has several cute cat garden sculptures, including a cat birdwatching one. Not 18” though. I think it was 12”. There were a selection there though. Amazon has them under ‘cat garden sculptures’, like 5,000+. If you choose cast stone ones, please don’t ship them through @dogbutler’s depot! I’d tend to wander over to the neighbors with a plate of cookies and admire their statues and ask them where they got them. Where I live I would check places called architectural salvage yards but I don’t know if WV hamlets have those. Barring that, finding an architect or a professional landscape designer to ask where to find architectural salvage might point to something worth saving and reusing. ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/10 "2024-06-30T03:50:51Z")
How far apart are the gateposts? Do you have a favorite hobby or sport? Instead of a matched pair, how about complementary? A fisherman and a leaping fish - one tennis player serving, t’other poised to receive - pitcher and batter - Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum… ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/11 "2024-06-30T05:24:01Z")
[Say hello to the Brea Mall parking structure gargoyles (or grotesques, if you prefer).](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=njYwxj5gWbQ) ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/12 "2024-06-30T05:42:45Z")
They don’t need to be twins, but they should look like they go together. Littermates, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/13 "2024-06-30T07:22:00Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I’d be tempted to do something odd like clown heads or something. I would attempt to talk my wife into topping the posts with replicas of the Tolkien towers. [![](https://sw6.elbenwald.de/media/70/97/75/1709121461/E1079064_14.jpg) ](https://sw6.elbenwald.de/media/70/97/75/1709121461/E1079064_14.jpg) [![](https://cdn.webshopapp.com/shops/343516/files/419700942/1280x1000x3/weta-workshop-lord-of-the-rings-statue-orthanc-18.jpg) ](https://cdn.webshopapp.com/shops/343516/files/419700942/1280x1000x3/weta-workshop-lord-of-the-rings-statue-orthanc-18.jpg) I would be unlikely to succeed, but I would try. ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/14 "2024-06-30T08:19:04Z")
A pair of grotesques would be ideal, perhaps not quite matching but on a similar theme. If you can get cat-related ones, so much the better! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/15 "2024-06-30T10:35:18Z")
I’m a little late to the party. But IME the sorts of dedicated yards that sell concrete pavers and various sorted rocks for landscaping also tend to carry a line of cast concrete sculptures. Even though an 18" base so ~24" tall sculpture will be hollow, it will also be heavy. So buying local will save on mongo shipping costs. And you’ll be sure your thing arrives unbroken. I say Google up your local concrete pavers and rocks (sometimes called “hardscape”) suppliers and call them. Even if they don’t sell sculptures, they’ll almost certainly know who locally does. Now me knowing the OP a bit better than some, I’m going to suggest that _nobody_ within 300 miles of where she lives will have anything nearly outré enough for her tastes. As @ParallelLines points out. ---
**Author:** ![Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sticks_and_scones/32/16951_2.png) [@Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sticks_and_Scones)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/16 "2024-06-30T11:13:53Z")
I would second that Design Toscano has some interesting ideas. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/17 "2024-06-30T11:25:41Z")
The Chinese/Japanese tradition would be a matched pair, but not identical. > **[Chinese guardian lions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_guardian_lions)** > > Chinese guardian lions, or imperial guardian lions, are a traditional Chinese architectural ornament, but the origins lie deep in much older Indian Buddhist traditions.\[citation needed\] Typically made of stone, they are also known as stone lions or shishi (石獅; shíshī). They are known in colloquial English as lion dogs or foo dogs / fu dogs. The concept, which originated and became popular in Chinese Buddhism, features a pair of highly stylized lions—often one male with a ball which represents the... > **[Komainu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komainu)** > > Komainu (狛犬), often called lion-dogs in English, are statue pairs of lion-like creatures, which traditionally guard the entrance or gate of the shrine, or placed in front of or within the honden (inner sanctum) of Japanese Shinto shrines. > A twin pair of komainu (construable as "Korean dog") or two shishi ("lion")/karajishi ("Chinese lion") are the typical stone-made creatures associated with gatekeeping on Shinto shrine grounds. The dog and lion pairs are seen as interchangeable. > Meant to ward... ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/18 "2024-06-30T12:25:40Z")
My spousal unit would insist on a matching pair. Frankly, I think that’s boring. I’d go for similar size but not identical, just because. As for type - that could be tough. It would probably vary with my mood, so no suggestion there. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/19 "2024-06-30T12:29:16Z")
As gargoyles and grotesques should not be matching but all different. That is best. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520/20 "2024-06-30T12:39:24Z")
Another vote for complimentary, but not matching. Just returned for a walk and one of the gardens has two concrete trolls. One has their arms up in victory pose, the other has their arms crossed in front. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-gargoyles-come-in-pairs-in-west-virginia-if-that-matters/1003520.md?page=2)